


lift me from the ground

by thespacenico



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Confession, Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, Confessions, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27068083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thespacenico/pseuds/thespacenico
Summary: Lance wiggles his fingers at him, grinning. “Go on, don’t be shy.”Keith rolls his eyes. “Thank you, oh brave and handsome knight,” he starts, with as little enthusiasm as possible.“Technically he’s a cleric,” Pidge interrupts.Lance ignores her comment, clasping his hands together and holding them up to his chin as he tilts his head, batting his eyes. “Aw, you think I’m handsome?”
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 46
Kudos: 444





	lift me from the ground

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO!!!!!!!!!!  
> this is a commission i wrote for my friend michael!!!!!!! sir if you are reading this i love you so much <3  
> also, a VERY special thank you to eileen for answering my endless questions about d&d so i could more or less accurately represent what little gameplay this fic involves, you saved my life  
> title is from the song lift me from the ground by san holo just because i've been listening to it recently

“You have _got_ to be kidding me.” 

Keith stares down at the board in front of him as Matt snatches one of the game pieces— _Keith’s_ game piece, a small, delicately carved wooden swordsman—away from the rest of the group and places it outside of the makeshift cardboard castle. Somewhere to his left someone snickers uncontrollably, the sound muffled but distinct. It’s probably Shiro, or maybe Pidge. Then again he’s not sure, because it’s hard to hear literally anything over the sound of Lance bursting into laughter across from him, head thrown back and hands clutching at his stomach. 

“Dude,” he wheezes, and Keith scowls as he wipes imaginary tears from his eyes. “You just—I mean, seriously, we’re practically at the end of the campaign and you—a one, Keith, why did you roll a _one—”_

“It’s not like I meant to!” Keith snaps, throwing his hands in the air as Lance breaks down into another round of giggles. “You’re the one who brought us this way in the first place because you insisted that we go through the Shadowlands instead of the Forgotten Forest!” 

“Because it’s faster!” 

“And infested with orcs! The sorceress back at the temple said—”

Lance scoffs, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back. “Oh please, she was a total scam. If we’d gone through the forest we probably would’ve all been eaten by giant spiders or something. Besides, _you’re_ the one who decided to run into a dark cave by yourself, orcs or not.” 

“Matt off-handedly mentions a single very specific cave and you expect me _not_ to investigate?” 

“You could’ve let Shiro go with you at least!” 

“Maybe I would have, if I had known I was about to be _kidnapped,”_ Keith cries. “Besides, I never said he couldn’t!” 

“You literally made us go through a strength test in protest,” Shiro sighs tiredly. 

“That’s your fault for not rolling better,” Keith grumbles.

Pidge snorts. “Considering that you just rolled a one on a perception check, I don’t think you have much room to talk.” 

Keith drops his elbows onto the table and lowers his face into his hands with a groan.

Allura clicks her tongue from the other end of the table as Lance lifts a hand to high-five Pidge beside him, earning a snort from Hunk and a half-hearted glare from Keith. “That’s enough, boys. What’s done is done, all we can do is just get back to the game.”

“Who’s ‘we’,” Keith mutters, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back in his chair as everyone else eagerly shuffles forward.

To be fair, Keith would say he’s fared relatively well so far, especially considering that this is the first D&D campaign he’s ever participated in. He caught onto the rules pretty quickly, and the campaign is straightforward enough that he’s been able to get used to the mechanics of the game without bombarding the others with questions. It helps that Shiro is there—he’s the one who actually introduced him to it, an inevitable side effect of being friends with Matt—so Keith’s knowledge was limited at first, but at least he didn’t come into it totally blind. It just took a lot of persuading to get him here in the first place.

Or a little.

Or. Almost none at all.

Keith had no problem standing firm against Shiro’s insistence that he join the group. It was _“an easy way to get out of the dorm and make friends”_ he said, and _“it’ll be fun”_ he said. Until one day, Shiro had the audacity to bring it up while Lance and Hunk were at the table in the cafeteria, probably because he knew they’d back him up. 

“I think you’d like it,” Hunk agreed, chewing thoughtfully on the end of his breadstick. “There’s usually lots of fighting. Not like, actual fighting, but like, pretend fighting. Make-believe fighting. You like fighting, don’t you?” 

“I do _not_ like fighting,” Keith had scoffed. Shiro leveled him with a scrutinizing look over his steaming mug of coffee. “Anymore,” Keith amended.

Lance hummed, and Keith squinted at him as he slurped loudly on his juice pouch. “Why are you so against it, anyway? It’s just a game, it can’t hurt you.” 

“You try it then,” Keith answered dismissively, poking at his half-eaten sandwich.

“Um, excuse you. I’m already in the group, dude.” 

Keith hesitated. This was, he noted, a very relevant detail that Shiro had neglected to mention. “You are?” 

“Oh, so _now_ you’re interested,” Shiro muttered. Keith kicked him under the table.

“‘Course I am,” Lance was saying, popping a fry into his mouth. “It’s fun.” 

“Super fun,” Hunk echoed. 

Keith pressed his lips together, considering. “… I’ll think about it,” he conceded.

Shiro gasped, prompting Keith to roll his eyes. “Really?” 

“Don’t make me change my mind.” 

Lance let out a low whistle, clicking his tongue and leaning back in his seat. “I dunno, Keith,” he shrugged. “It kinda seems to me like you’re just scared.” 

To which Keith had replied, much more defensively than necessary: “Am not.” 

To which Lance had replied, one brow raised with a knowing smirk, eyes glittering with mischief: “Prove it.” 

And suddenly Keith was asking Shiro when the next campaign started. 

“You’re unbelievable,” Shiro had complained to him later. “You say no to me for _months_ but the second you find out that Lance is in the group, you’re all in. You’ve got it _bad.”_

Keith had just kicked him again, if only to distract from the burning of his cheeks. 

Sooo, yeah. Lance was kind of the reason that Keith finally decided to join. Not that he would ever admit that. 

“So now you’ve reached the border of the Shadowlands,” Matt is saying when Keith snaps back to the present, glasses perched precariously on the edge of his nose as he drums his fingers together. “You’re one man down, captured by the Orc Queen and imprisoned within the Fallen Castle, but the end of your journey is in sight. What do you do next?” 

“I’ll just sit here, I guess,” Keith states dryly. 

Shiro pats his shoulder with a chuckle. “We’re almost through, anyway,” he says, at the same time that Lance says, “Relax, you’ll be back in no time.”

Keith blinks. As does Shiro. As does everyone else in the room. 

“Huh?” Hunk asks, after the collective confused silence has lasted for several moments.

Lance looks up from where he’s been staring intently at the board as if already planning a route to the castle, only then seeming to realize that everyone is watching him. He glances around the room, the furrow in his brow deepening more and more the longer he does. “Well, we’re gonna go rescue Keith, aren’t we?” 

“Are you crazy?” Pidge cries. “We’re practically already at the Dragon’s Keep!” 

“So?” 

Allura clears her throat and folds her hands in front of her, as diplomatic as ever. “I think what she means is, going to the castle to save Keith is a bit of a detour.” 

“Exactly,” Pidge agrees, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Not to mention it takes us right back through enemy territory, which means we’d probably lose a lot of health that we need for the final battle. It’s just not worth it. No offense, Keith.” 

“Offense taken,” Keith frowns.

“We can take a less direct route then,” Lance argues, pointing wildly at where their game pieces are crowded together. “Double back and cut across the Enchanted River. That’s neutral ground, the magical barriers would protect us from any enemies that might come after us.” 

“Whoawhoawhoa,” Hunk protests, crossing his hands in a time out motion. “You spent all that time convincing us to go through the Shadowlands because it was faster, and now you want us to go _back?”_

“The circumstances have changed! Whatever happened to ‘no man left behind’, why are you guys so against this?” 

“Why are you so _for_ it?” Pidge shoots back. 

Keith glances across the table at Lance, curious to hear what he has to say to that. He’s not sure why Lance is so adamant about this either, considering how delighted he had been by Keith’s capture just a few moments prior. Not to mention that he and Lance usually have this weird we’re-friends-but-also-sort-of-rivals-for-some-reason type thing going on, so this is kind of off-script for him. Lance had hardly even given the idea of saving Keith a second thought, while Keith would have fully expected Lance to leave him to fend for himself. 

“I—because—” Lance seems to flounder for a moment, gaze flicking toward Keith and then away just as quickly. “I mean—it’s his first campaign, okay? Getting left out of the final battle sucks, he should get to be a part of it.” When everyone continues to stare at him, he clears his throat and looks away, rubbing his palms against his thighs. “Plus… it kinda _is_ my fault he was captured in the first place,” he admits sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

Pidge rolls her eyes, clearly unconvinced. “Right. That’s the _only_ reason.” 

“I don’t like your tone,” Lance glares, and if Keith didn’t know any better he’d say that Lance’s face flushes just slightly, although why he isn’t sure. Apparently he missed the joke as well, which is often the case with him, because everyone else in the room has fallen into various states of laughter. “Look, I’ve already made up my mind! I’ll rescue Keith by myself if I have to.” 

“Oh, Lance,” Hunk sighs, and Lance opens his mouth to complain but is interrupted by Shiro before he can say anything.

“Y’know,” Shiro hums, scratching his chin thoughtfully as he squints down at the board. “He has a point about the Enchanted River. Going back for Keith really wouldn’t be _that_ much of a risk until we get to the castle itself.”

Pidge pinches the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “Great, now Shiro’s on your side. I guess we’re all going, then.” 

“Yes!” Lance pumps a fist in the air, grinning so brightly anyone would think he’d won the lottery. “Sit tight, Keith, we’ll be there in no time. You’re my damsel in distress and I’m your knight in shining armor.” 

“We’re _all_ going to save him,” Allura points out, but the damage has already been done, and Keith is only glad that Lance isn’t looking at him to see the way his cheeks redden and he has to busy himself by studying his shoes.

Twenty seconds later, Keith’s phone buzzes with a text from Shiro containing an unnecessary excess of hearts and smirking emojis. Keith elbows him in the side and Shiro laughs, and Lance is too busy planning their daring rescue to notice. 

。·:*:·ﾟ★。·:*:·ﾟ☆

The rescue doesn’t go quite as planned. Utter chaos ensues.

“Keith, you take thirteen damage.” 

“Oh my god. We’ve killed Keith.” 

“So I have… negative two health? Is that even a thing?” 

“Oh my _god._ That’s it, we’ve killed him.”

 _“We_ didn’t kill anyone, Hunk!” 

“Now hold on, as long as he does okay on his death saving throws—”

“What death saving throws? The Orc King is gonna rip his head off before he even gets the chance to roll one!”

“Death saving what?” 

“Are any of us even within distance to stabilize him before he gets attacked again?” 

“Wait! I don’t understand, am I dead?” 

“Not yet, you’re not!” Lance slams his hands down on the table, effectively interrupting the frantic, rapid-fire conversation filling the room and instantly drawing everyone’s attention toward him. “I’m calling for divine intervention.”

“Lance,” says Allura. 

“Lance,” says Hunk. 

_“Lance,”_ says Pidge. 

“Divine what?” says Keith. 

“You are all so gay,” says Shiro. 

“The circumstances aren’t _that_ dire,” Allura tries, but Lance is already reaching for the dice, his mind clearly already made up. 

“It’s the only way to save Keith!” 

Pidge smacks her palm against her forehead. “Yeah, but it’s not like we’re doomed if the single most inexperienced player in our party dies.” 

Keith’s mouth drops open, offended. “Hey!” 

Matt rather dramatically clears his throat, silencing the table once again and waiting for everyone to settle before turning his attention to Lance. “Pike, describe the assistance which you seek.” 

Lance grins, pressing his palms together as if praying. “O Great and Wise Deity of the Cosmos, I only ask that you aid us in our efforts to rescue Thunderstorm Darkness from certain death. May he be protected from any harm that may befall him.” 

“You may roll.” 

“It was nice knowing you, Thunderstorm Darkness,” Hunk sighs, watching as Lance rubs his hands together and blows on his knuckles before plucking two dice from the table. 

“I have no idea what’s going on right now,” Keith mutters. 

Shiro snorts, leaning over as Lance begins to shake the dice. “Basically, Lance has to roll a twelve or lower for this to even have a chance to work.”

“Wonderful. I’m dead, aren’t I?” 

“Oh, please,” Lance scoffs, raising his arms over his head while he continues to shake. “Have a little faith, Keith. I’ve got you covered.”

And then he winks. At Keith. And Keith is too busy choking and trying not to die in real life that he doesn’t even get to see him roll, and is utterly lost when the entire table erupts into pandemonium around him.

Matt has to practically shout to be heard over everyone else’s wild, excited chatter. “Suddenly the sky darkens, and the Orc King is struck down by a single bolt of lightning—” 

_“Ha!_ Take that, Orc King!” 

“That actually _worked?”_

“Oh my god, Lance, I can’t believe you actually did it—” 

“—and the rest of the orc army scatters in fear, terrified that they’ll be next,” Matt continues, reaching forward and pushing aside all of the enemy game pieces, leaving only their own. “The battle is won!” 

“And Thunderstorm Darkness lives to see another day!” Lance cheers, shooting to his feet and throwing his arms in the air. “Operation Rescue Keith is a success!” 

“My hero,” Keith says flatly, unimpressed. “Must be why I’m still at negative two health.” 

Lance waves a hand in the air dismissively. “I’m close enough that I can cast healing word on my next turn and fix you right up, easy. But first—” He fixes his gaze on Keith with a blinding grin, eyes sparkling. “Speech!” 

Keith blinks. “Huh?” 

“This is the part where you dramatically confess your undying love for me on the battlefield because you’re so overwhelmed by how cool and good-looking I am. Oh, and also because I saved your life.” 

Keith sputters, practically shrinking away from the board. “What—you—I’m _dying,”_ he stammers, if only in a desperate attempt to change the subject to literally anything else. Lance may have saved his D&D character, but right now it feels more like he’s trying to kill him. 

“You’ll be fine! I just said I’ll heal you.” Lance flops back into his chair, drumming his hands on his knees. “Speeeech—”

“I am _not_ giving a speech.” 

“Oh, c’mon,” Shiro nudges his shoulder a bit too hard to be playful and Keith shoots a murderous look his way, because of course Shiro would jump at the chance to witness his ultimate humiliation and downfall. “It’s just a little roleplay. You could use the practice, you need to flesh out your character.”

“Besides, it should be easy,” Pidge shrugs. “You’ve got plenty of personal experience to go off of.” 

Keith stares at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

She simply blinks and smiles innocently while Hunk croons from the other side of the table. “Ooo, we haven’t had a good love story in one of our campaigns in forever.” 

“So why start now?” Keith asks, a little more than desperate at this point. This is so not good for his health. As in his actual, real-life health. 

“I think it would be sweet,” Allura chimes in, and by then Keith knows that he’s doomed, because even he knows that everyone here is perfectly aware of his feelings for Lance and has chosen to torment him in the most cruel way imaginable. Maybe dying in-game wouldn’t have been the worst thing after all.

Matt is the one who starts the chanting. Keith hates him a little bit for that.

“Oh my god, fine!” Keith groans, and almost forgets why he so vehemently resents this entire situation at the sight of Lance’s entire face lighting up as everyone else cheers. _Almost._ “But only because Allura thinks I should, and then I’m never playing another game of D&D with you guys ever again.” 

“You’re a terrible liar,” Shiro smiles, patting a scowling Keith on the back.

“The floor is yours, Keith,” Matt announces, spreading his hands. 

Keith sighs, mentally resigning himself to his fate. He is _never_ going to hear the end of this, from Shiro especially. As everyone settles down and gets comfortable (Lance makes a point of shushing everyone), Keith folds his arms and slumps back in his chair. He’s agreed to the speech, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. When it’s clear that everyone is ready, Keith heaves a long sigh and levels his gaze with Lance, all but glaring. This was _his_ idea, after all.

Lance wiggles his fingers at him, grinning. “Go on, don’t be shy.” 

Keith rolls his eyes. “Thank you, oh brave and handsome knight,” he starts, with as little enthusiasm as possible. 

“Technically he’s a cleric,” Pidge interrupts. 

Lance ignores her comment, clasping his hands together and holding them up to his chin as he tilts his head, batting his eyes. “Aw, you think I’m handsome?”

Keith bristles, clamping his hands on his knees and desperately fighting against the blush rising up his neck. Seriously, how is it that Lance can get Keith this flustered during a game of Dungeons and Dragons, of all things? It’s totally unfair. “Do you want me to give a speech or not?” 

Lance mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key, grinning as he leans back in his chair with his arms crossed behind his head. 

Keith sighs again, taking a moment to regain his bearings. He’s never been good at public speaking or communicating in general, so unless he suddenly and miraculously becomes a master of improv, this is about to be the shortest, lamest speech in the history of short and lame speeches. But they’re all somewhat projecting themselves onto their D&D characters here, right? That has to count for something. If Keith is supposed to be Thunderstorm Darkness, and if Lance is supposed to be Pike, then maybe Pidge is right. He can gather inspiration from… personal experience, or whatever Pidge called it.

The others watch him expectantly as he clears his throat, sitting up a little straighter. “Thank you, oh brave and handsome—cleric, or whatever,” he repeats, and this time Pidge nods, satisfied. “You rescued me from the clutches of the Orc King and called upon the deities to strike him down, and for that I am forever indebted to you. I am compelled to confess my unspoken feelings for you.” 

There. That’s a good start, even if it makes his palms sweat and his heart beat nervously against his ribcage. He’s not technically improvising anymore, just disguising his actual feelings for Lance underneath the cover of a fictional character’s fictional confession to another fictional character. It’s purely fictional, that’s all this is. He can work with that. 

“Most of the time you’re insufferable.” 

Shiro laughs and Lance balks, offended. “Uh, rude?” 

“And obnoxious.” 

“What—” 

“And overly dramatic.”

“Wow. Off to a great start,” Lance drawls. “Really feeling the love over here.” 

_“But,”_ Keith says pointedly, heart flipping in his chest as Lance narrows his eyes at him. “That was before we went on this quest and I really got to know you.” He swallows, feeling the full weight of Lance’s gaze on him and shifting uncomfortably in his seat. _Fictional. It’s all fictional. Just keep it short and sweet and you’ll be done before you know it._

Keith takes a deep breath. “You talk a big game and act like you couldn’t care less what people think about you, but deep down you’re eager to prove yourself. There’s no challenge you won’t face, and even when they knock you down you’re willing to try again, as many times as it takes. Giving up is never an option with you, and you show your resilience both on and off the battlefield, which is admirable.” 

Lance hums, stroking his chin. “I am a very admirable person, aren’t I?” 

“Don’t make me take it back. _Anyway._ Your image is important to you and some people might think that makes you vain, but really all you want is to make a difference. So on the surface it seems to outsiders like you only care about yourself, but you’ve proven time and time again that what you really care about the most is the people around you, even if they’ve never returned that sort of care to you. You’re always looking out for everyone, and you’d take any risk if it means helping someone.” 

Perfect. That should be plenty long enough that no one would complain if Keith were to go ahead and wrap things up. But now that he’s gotten started he realizes he doesn’t really want to stop, because he still has more to say. And it’s not like everything he’s saying is new to him considering how often he thinks about it (no matter how hard he tries not to), and he’s not sure he’ll ever have the courage or the gall to say all this to Lance in a different context, so… 

“You’re selfless and brave in the face of danger, but as overconfident as you are sometimes, you know when to back off and let someone else take the lead. Because you’re much more observant than you let on, you notice what people are good at and even if it makes you a little jealous, you put your own feelings aside to encourage them. Not only that, but you keep your cool under stress and can adapt to any situation that’s thrown your way.

“And… you talk a lot, because you have a lot to say and you’re not afraid to stand up for what you believe in, but you also know when it’s time to slow down and listen. You’re kind, and considerate, and loyal to your friends. Everyone knows they can count on you because you have our backs in any and every situation, regardless of whether or not it’s convenient for you. You didn’t have to come save me, but you did, and I’m glad it was you.”

Keith smiles a little to himself, biting down on his lip to hide it. “That’s the thing about you, I guess. You always do the right thing when it really counts.” 

Someone clears their throat. Keith’s head snaps up and he blinks, realizing from the varying degrees of amusement on everyone’s faces that he has officially said too much. Lance in particular is staring at him with a strange look on his face that Keith can’t quite decipher, which makes him panic enough that he rushes to finish. 

“So—yeah, uh, I—thanks, I guess, for saving me and stuff, or whatever. And that’s—yeah. That’s why I love you, Lance. The end.” 

It takes a moment for Keith to figure out exactly what he said that warrants the reaction he receives. For starters, Shiro has to slap his hands over his mouth to muffle his laughter while Allura chuckles into the sleeve of her sweater. Matt grins so wide that Keith’s face hurts just looking at it, Hunk chokes on his water, and Pidge pushes her glasses further up the bridge of her nose with a look on her face that has literally never meant anything good. 

And Lance—well. Lance’s eyes have widened to the size of golf balls, mouth dropping open slightly and cheeks going pink while he continues to stare right at Keith, which is how he _knows_ he’s messed up somehow. 

Keith finally realizes his mistake too late, eyes blowing wide and face instantly flushing bright red as his heart drops into the pit of his stomach. _Oh god. Oh no._ “Wait,” he blurts, horrified. “I mean—uh—ha, did I say Lance? I meant—” 

“Oh, we know exactly what you meant,” Pidge interrupts, and then is rather rudely elbowed in the side by Hunk. “Ow!” 

“Wow, would you look at the time!” Shiro exclaims suddenly, checking his wrist for his nonexistent watch. “I’m late for—uhhh, hula hooping class!” 

Hunk makes a sound in the back of his throat. “You’re late for hula what now?”

Matt catches on immediately, already reaching for his bag and throwing his jacket over his shoulder. “Oh yeah, me too! Very important skill, can’t miss a single class, don’t wanna lose our stamina.” 

“And I just remembered I have to… paint my nails,” Allura adds, pulling the sleeves of her sweater over her hands to conceal her bright pink nails. 

“Ohhh!” Hunk straightens, eyebrows shooting up in understanding. “And I have that thing! The thing, the one that’s not here, in this room. Somewhere else. Yeah, I gotta go too.” 

“Wait!” Pidge gestures wildly at the board as everyone starts to stand, chairs scraping across the floor and bags rustling as they gather their things. “But the dragons—we’re so close—” 

“Pidge also has the thing,” Hunk quickly interjects. “Right, Pidge?” 

Pidge drops her head back with a groan, rolling her eyes so hard it’s a wonder they don’t get stuck in her brain. “Yes,” she grumbles, clearly not thrilled. “I also have the thing.” 

“We’ll finish next week,” Matt promises, shoving Pidge’s bag into her hands the moment she’s on her feet.

“Right,” Shiro agrees, hefting his backpack onto his shoulder in one smooth motion and herding everyone toward the door of the classroom as he flashes a smile back at Keith and Lance. “So we’ll just be on our way and leave you guys to—uh, talk, while you clean things up.” 

All Keith can do is watch helplessly as the only people standing between him and his doom all shuffle out of the room, each of them casting very knowing (or in Pidge’s case, exasperated) glances in his direction before they take their leave. Then just like that everyone is gone, the door swinging shut behind them with a horrible sense of finality and plunging the room into silence. 

Keith sits very still, completely frozen in place while his heart beats so fast it’s almost like it’s not beating at all. Maybe if he doesn’t move Lance won’t be able to see him, like those dinosaurs in the movies. Except Lance isn’t a dinosaur, and this isn’t a movie. For all the times he daydreamed about being left alone with Lance, approximately zero of them were under these circumstances. Keith is horribly, utterly done for. 

He can’t even bring himself to look at Lance, too busy stewing in his own mortification. His ears are burning so hot it’s almost painful, enough that if his limbs were functioning he would have half the mind to go stick his head in a freezer. Because not only did he just accidentally confess, but he accidentally confessed in the most humiliating way possible, without prompting and with _zero_ preparation for rejection because he had planned on keeping it all to himself until it just—went away. So he can’t even pretend it’s Lance’s fault. He let himself get a little too carried away, and now he’s paying the price. 

Lance is the one who eventually breaks the silence, awkwardly clearing his throat. “Um. So,” he starts, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing nervously. “That was… some speech, huh?” 

Keith slowly, painstakingly slides his gaze across the room toward Lance, who stiffens slightly when they make eye contact. It makes something twist painfully in Keith’s gut, something disappointed and a little ashamed but certainly not surprised. Of course Lance is the kind of guy to be nice about it, which in a way only makes things worse. They stare at each other for a moment, and then Keith lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding and pitches his face forward into his hands with a groan. 

“Uh,” Lance says. “Keith—” 

“Look, you don’t—” Keith shakes his head miserably, sighing into his hands. “Just. You don’t have to say anything, okay?”

“Well, maybe—” 

“We can just clean up, go our separate ways, and never talk about this.” 

“But—” 

“In fact, let’s just pretend that none of this ever happened and then—”

“What if I don’t _want_ to forget this ever happened!”

Keith freezes, blinking into his hands. He hesitantly lifts his head and is surprised to find Lance half-glaring back at him, cheeks tinted an uncharacteristic shade of pink. “Huh,” he says. 

Lance rolls his eyes in a way that seems more exasperated than annoyed, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Seriously? I’ve been like, the polar opposite of subtle.” 

Keith blinks again. “Subtle,” he echoes, voice pitching up at the end like he’s asking a question. 

Lance raises both eyebrows, tilting his head forward like he’s waiting for Keith to continue. The only thing Keith _does_ continue is his staring at Lance, completely lost as to what he’s looking for. After another moment of confused silence, Lance squints at him. “What, you’re telling me you didn’t already know?” 

“I… didn’t already know what?” 

“Dude!” Lance practically shouts, nearly startling Keith out of his chair. “I’ve been flirting with you for _months!”_

Keith feels heat instantly rush to his face, cheeks flushing impossibly redder. He sputters, struggling to form a coherent sentence. “You’re—but—I don’t— _huh?”_

“And for the record, you kind of flirted back!” Lance goes on, throwing his hands in the air. “But you never seemed to show any interest past that so I just assumed—” 

“Wait,” Keith cuts him off, dumbfounded. “I—what do you mean I flirted back?” 

Lance tosses his head back and laughs, a single harsh puff of air. “Keith, buddy. Don’t make me pull out the receipts.” He jabs at the screen of his phone lying face-up on the table beside him. “As someone who’s been crushing on you since spring semester of freshman year and has therefore overanalyzed our every interaction for the past year, I have _a lot_ of them.” 

From the number of times that Keith’s mouth opens and closes uselessly, he imagines he must look very much like a dying fish. His brain might be struggling to process a little bit. Also, Lance _does_ have a point about the flirting, so he can’t exactly argue. “I… I always thought you were just messing with me,” he answers weakly. 

“Yeah, well I could say the same thing,” Lance sighs. “But it went on for so long that at some point I figured you were just playing along for the heck of it or something.” 

“But—” Keith aimlessly waves a hand in the air, incredulous. “If you knew I was flirting back, why didn’t you ever say anything?” 

Lance opens his mouth to answer and then pauses, as if this is the first time that thought has occurred to him. “Well—because—look, it goes both ways! You could’ve said something too, you know!” 

“I didn’t know you were being serious!” 

“Why would I not be?” 

“Because I’m—” Keith gestures wildly between them, first to himself and then to Lance. “And you’re—” 

“Alright, don’t hurt yourself,” Lance grumbles, although his cheeks have darkened considerably. “Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around. You’re like, lightyears out of my league, man.” 

Keith’s face is numb from the prolonged heat of his cheeks. He wouldn’t be surprised if he looks into a mirror tonight and sees a tomato looking back at him. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” 

“To be fair, I think we’re both kind of ridiculous.” 

“That’s… yeah, that’s fair.” 

“Wanna go get milkshakes?” 

Despite everything, the sheer randomness of the question makes surprised laughter bubble out of Keith’s mouth, only growing at the sight of Lance’s dorky grin and the added wave of relief that it brings. All the combined embarrassment and confusion of the situation melts away into something much more giddy and lighthearted, and suddenly Keith doesn’t feel quite so overwhelmed. All things considered, he can’t believe the way things have turned out. “What?” 

“Honestly, I’m just trying to ask you out before I wake up and find out this was just a dream,” Lance admits. “Or before everyone else runs back in here to laugh at me and point out the hidden cameras.” 

“Oh,” is all Keith says, a little breathless and still laughing. “Um—then yeah. Yes, I mean.” 

“Cool,” Lance beams, unknowingly causing a violent explosion of butterflies in Keith’s stomach. 

“Cool,” Keith echoes, and Lance’s smile grows impossibly brighter. 

For a moment they simply stare at each other, cheeks flushed but smiling and for once, appreciating the silence instead of running from it. 

Lance is the one to break it again, glancing down at the mess of an abandoned D&D game in front of them. “I guess we should probably start cleaning up, then.” 

“Probably,” Keith agrees, and they spend the next couple of minutes trying to get their laughter under control so they can finally do just that.

(“I’m still mad at you for making me give a speech,” Keith says around the straw of his milkshake later, legs kicked up on the dash of Lance’s car. 

Lance’s response is to slurp loudly at his own milkshake while simultaneously reaching over to take Keith’s free hand in his, sliding their fingers together. “Sure you are,” he shrugs, and laughs as Keith buries his burning face against his shoulder.)

**Author's Note:**

> off-screen interaction between keith and lance  
> lance: wait you're lactose intolerant aren't you  
> keith: what's your point. to the milkshakes  
> lance: why am i enabling you
> 
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